The usage of a dictionary in a development project 

Two factors of success in software development are organization and communication. Companies often spend a good amount of money to take care of these two points. Vendors provide tools to design, plan, manage, test and courses on how to use theses tools, companies write and update all sorts of guidelines for the teams. All of these are surely helpful for a good result but amazingly some simple and cheap basic things that have been proven efficient are neglected. One of these is a project dictionary: Check the paper The usage of a dictionary in a development project 

An economic downturn often leads to an upheaval within an industry, bringing to the fore a new set of winners and the fall of several companies. During the last downturn (according to IMF, the last global downturn was in 2001-02), leaders were able to reduce the cost of goods sold considerably as compared to the laggards, while judiciously investing in the brand to improve sales. Though business innovation was tapped by all, winners differentiated themselves in the areas of process innovation and people management.

This study will help understand how certain manufacturing companies managed to emerge through the last global downturn. Under the Manufacturing sector, the study will consider the following sub-segments: Aerospance & Defense / Automotive / General Manufacturing & Hi-Tech. To read full document, click on document attached.

Managing through the downturn

Deriving enhanced business value from your ERP footprint via robust master data management

In today’s global business environment, turbulent economic conditions and intense competition are challenging the way companies do business. To maintain competitiveness, enterprises must maximise efficiencies and deliver value to clients while maintaining a minimum cost base. Flexibility and responsiveness are critical to overcoming unforeseen challenges. Companies are collecting more and more information about their customers, products, suppliers, inventory and finances. As the amount of data a company manages increases, it becomes more difficult to accurately maintain that information in a usable, logical framework. The confusion caused by low quality master data maintenance leads to a range of issues including: poor customer service, redundant marketing campaigns, inaccurate product shipments and, ultimately, a higher cost of doing business. It is the contention of this paper that firms who fail to deploy robust, clearly-defined and scalable master data management processes will struggle to realise transformational benefits and enhanced business value from their ERP systems.

Surely, Service Management is necessary to fulfil several needs, both by customers and by our own delivery management. However, if we really want to make the difference, add real value to the business and contribute proactively to their business goals, Service Management alone is not enough. We need entrepreneurship, or, Service Leadership to close the gap between business and IT, and the gap between projects and IT services.  We have seen that ABC (Attitude, Behavior, Culture) is crucial in creating acceptance and thereby maximizing results. Now let’s show what we are made of, and not just which frameworks we know about…

Here you find the link to the Service Leadership white paper, which might give you some more background information on this subject:

White paper Service Leadership

Regards

Dave

Again, a very early morning start for the AMS Academy today despite a short night for some of us and a very low temperature in Les Fontaines’ woodland!! The success of our 1st day was of course in everybody’s mind… up to such a point that our attendees are already making suggestions which could be discussed during a second edition. Just between you & us, here are some of these spontaneously popped up ideas:
- Let’s do the AM Academy also with our customers (more interaction, intimacy & learning)
- The triple B rule: Building Better Business cases
- Improve synergy with Sogeti HT (same delivery model)
- The AMS Academy should publish a book or a newsletter we could give to our customers…
After a brief summary of yesterday’s series of conferences Jacques MEZRHAHID launched our second & last day of AMS Academy.

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This morning at 8am on the dot, the very first edition of the AMS Academy (part of the Sogeti Academy) was launched in Les Fontaines – Gouvieux.

Gathering 50 people from 8 different nationalities during 3 days, the purpose of this worldwide event within Sogeti’s AM community is to build a strong network & enhance our ability to provide a world-class AMS offering.

To present Sogeti’s view on AMS offering, you can follow the following link : Butterfly

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To launch the first AMS ACADEMY three International Experts will  be present :

Pascal Matzke, Vice President and Principal Analyst with Forrester - “Application Management”, Monday 24th November

Pascal Matzke provides advice and support to IT vendors and service providers on their overall market positioning, as well as on their product, services, sales, and partnering strategies. In addition, Pascal regularly advises end user clients on their IT services and sourcing strategies, with a particular emphasis on outsourcing decision issues, RFP creation, and vendor selection and vendor management. He is a recognized authority on global IT services and outsourcing trends as well as on underlying IT market dynamics.

Jan Schilt - Managing Director and co-owner of GamingWorks - “ABC Game”, Monday 24th November

Master of Science Human Resource Development, ITIL Service Manager. 15 years ICT Manager, 3 years Management Trainer and 5 years Process Improvement Consultant. Designer of all GamingWorks products. Jan will present the ABC game where we will look at how we can and must improve our Application Management Services.

Alan W. Brown, IBM Rational - “Software Delivery Factories”, Tuesday 25th November

Alan W. Brown is a Distinguished Engineer at IBM Rational software, and is IBM Rational CTO for Europe. Alan works with customers around the world consulting on software engineering strategy as it pertains to enterprise solutions, process improvement, and the transition to service-oriented solutions through IBM Rational’s software delivery platform. In this role Alan defines IBM Rational’s strategy and consults with IBM product teams to improve software development efficiency through visual modelling, generating code from abstract models, and systematic reuse. This involves working with engineering teams on product architecture, product management groups on creating plans, and marketing and field teams on positioning IBM Rational’s products and services.

Alan’s primary interests are in service-based design, component-based development, software engineering environments, and enterprise application development tools. He has published over 50 papers, authored four books, and edited an additional three books. Alan holds a PhD in Computing Science from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

The AMS Academy is being set up as a platform for all Sogeti countries to share their best practices in Application Management Services with all other community members with the express purpose of promoting Sogeti as a key player in the global market for Application Management. The Academy will bring consultants, practitioners and sales managers together in an open forum spanning the complete application lifecycle.

The main objectives for the Academy are as follows:

• Promote visibility of Sogeti as a global player in the Application Management marketplace
• Promote Sogeti as a thought leader on Application Management using the global knowledge of the global Sogeti community
• Promote Sogeti as a practice leader on Application Management using the local expertise of the global Sogeti community

The main benefit for members of the community who have not yet been exposed to Application Management is that they will be provided with the knowledge and practices of experts in the field and they will be able to understand the benefits that can be achieved.